How to reduce swelling and relieve pain in swollen ankles

The ankle joint bears most of the body's weight and is one of the most vulnerable joints in the human body. In life, it is inevitable to get injured when walking, exercising, running and jumping. It is normal to sprain your ankle in life, but for many people, their ankles will be injured and their ankles will begin to swell after spraining their ankles. This is because the ankle joint is damaged by external force and the surrounding capillaries become congested, causing swelling of the ankle soft tissue. How to reduce swelling and relieve pain in swollen ankles?

Disease prevention

1. Causes and principles of ankle sprain. Ball sports are technically complex, and the transitions between technical movements are frequent during practice, requiring constant changes of direction, sudden stops and starts, etc., especially rebounding in basketball and jumping and spiking in volleyball. When the human body leaves the ground and is in the air, the foot is in a plantar flexion and inversion position. If the body's center of gravity is unstable when landing, and if it tilts to one side or steps on someone else's foot or the ball, or on uneven ground, and if there is a lack of self-protection adaptability, the person will land on the front and outside of the foot, causing the foot to invert and causing injury.

2. Symptoms. After the injury, there is obvious tenderness on the inner or outer side of the ankle joint; there is obvious swelling on the inner and outer ankles, local subcutaneous ecchymosis, limited ankle joint movement, and difficulty walking.

3. On-site treatment of ankle sprain. Immediately after the injury, apply cold compress, apply pressure bandage, elevate the affected limb, keep the affected limb immobilized and rest, and apply new wound medicine externally.

4. Massage therapy. After 3 days, light massage can be performed: (1) massage the Jiexi point (the center of the transverse line of the dorsum of the ankle joint, between the extensor hallucis longus tendon and the extensor toe longus tendon) for 1 minute; (2) massage the Kunlun point (the midpoint of the line connecting the lateral malleolus and the Achilles tendon) for 1 minute; (3) massage the Xuanzhong point (3 inches below the tip of the lateral malleolus, on the posterior edge of the fibula) for 1 minute; (4) massage the Yanglingquan point (in the depression below the head of the fibula) for 1 minute. The above acupoint massage should be performed until the patient feels soreness and swelling.

5. Practice after injury. After the swelling and pain are relieved, you should walk on the ground or with the help of crutches with the adhesive support band fixed on it. After 1 to 2 weeks, you can do muscle strength and coordination exercises, jogging on the sand or walking or jumping on uneven slopes, and gradually enter regular exercises.

6. Strengthen preventive measures. An important cause of injury is the lack of self-protection awareness and the lack of attention to preventive measures. Therefore, it is necessary to do sufficient warm-up exercises, improve the venue facilities, cultivate and improve self-protection ability, improve ankle muscle strength, as well as ankle stability and coordination, and wear a protective support belt when practicing.

Lifestyle

1. For those with severe ankle sprains, they should go to the hospital for an X-ray to rule out fractures and dislocations. If a fracture is found, they should seek medical attention immediately.

2. During the acute stage of ankle sprain, the technique should be gentle and slow to avoid aggravating the traumatic bleeding, and do not apply hot compresses.

3. During the recovery period, the manipulation can be appropriately increased, and local hot compresses or external washings with Chinese medicine to promote blood circulation and dredge collaterals can be used at the same time, which can often achieve relatively satisfactory results.

4. Pay attention to keep the injured area warm.

5. In the early stage of sprain, more serious cases should be immobilized and given appropriate fixation according to the condition. After 1 to 2 weeks, the fixation should be removed and functional exercises should be performed.